Obesity is a growing problem in the UK. It causes severe health issues such as increased blood pressure, heart failure and liver disease. These health issues are a burden on the NHS. The cost at the end of 2007 treating obese patients was £4.2billion and is set to increase to £6.2billion in 2015 if no action is taken.
What is Obesity? Obesity is the accumulation of fat in the body. It is a state of being overweight to where it causes severe health issues. Obesity can be caused by a person having a bad diet which includes eating too much fatty foods and high sugar foods whilst not doing exercise. It is accessed by a doctor calculating a person’s body mass index which compares the person’s weight to height. You are considered clinically obese if your BMI is higher than 30 and morbidly obese if more than 40.
However obesity isn’t just a problem with adults there has been a national increase in the number of obese children. More than 27% of children in England are now considered to be overweight.
There have been various arguments as to whether the NHS should pay for obese patients to undergo weight loss surgery. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence says surgery should only be available to those who are considered to be morbidly obese and where all other treatment options have failed.
There are many ways to deal with obesity; including seeing a dietician and exercising on a regular basis. However if a person does do this they will undergo severe health issues.
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